On February 13, 2013, Three Stories of Galicia was featured as the opening film of the international film festival “Conflict and Reconciliation in the Central-Eastern European Cinema” in Yerevan, Armenia. This Festival aims to present to the Armenian public and particularly to the youth lessons learned from conflicts and reconciliation in Central-Eastern Europe depicted through the art of cinematography.

This is the second screening organized in Yerevan by the UN Office in Armenia with the support of many partners including the Polish and Ukrainian embassies. And even though we could not be there in person, we were very happy to hear that the film resonated extremely well with the audience and particularly with the youth. The showing took place in the largest movie theater in Armenia “Moscow Cinema” which seats 400 people and was almost full to capacity.

Speaking about the festival, Henriette Ahrens, the UN Resident Coordinator a.i. said: “Art is a powerful tool. Many of these films are shown for the first time in Armenia and they are featuring touching human stories. Let us be inspired by those who had the courage to care – the ordinary people who took extraordinary steps to defend human dignity. Their examples can help us build a better world today.”

The Festival is also a way of paying tribute to the memory of the Holocaust victims. The theme of this year’s International Day of Commemoration in Memory of the Victims of the Holocaust commemorated on January 27th is “Rescue during the Holocaust: the Courage to Care” remembering those who risked their lives to save innocent people from almost certain death during the war.

The Film Festival became possible due to the joint efforts of the UN Office in Armenia, Embassies of Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Germany, Lithuania, Poland, Romania and Ukraine and was supported by the Moscow Cinema management in Yerevan.